Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, And Mark Twain All Kept Daily Journals — You Should, Too
Chronicle your journey to arrive at your goal.
getty Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Mark Twain, and Charles Darwin all have one thing in common besides being well-known innovative thinkers: They all took part in the practice of daily journaling.
We all have so much on our minds these days. Our thoughts are filled with the devastation of the pandemic, the turbulence of the economic fallout, the divisiveness of the political climate, and the safety of our loved ones.
So, how can you process it all, find peace, stay on track with your goals, and bring healing to yourself and others? Why, by keeping a journal, of course.
Daily journaling has proven to be an effective way of liberating ourselves from mental and emotional baggage.
It’s also an activity that can help you pursue your path to success — whether related to your career or your personal growth.
The daily practice of exploring problems and solutions can give rise to discoveries large and small.
Daily writing provides a judgment-free space in which to incubate ideas. And, writing in a journal is a way to check in with what’s occupying your mind and it has a cathartic influence on everything from stress to despair.
Neurologists estimate that we think approximately 6,200 thoughts a day.
Journaling allows you to sort through your thoughts, make sense of them, and discard those that don’t serve your purpose.
Embarking on a daily practice of journaling can help you see your path forward with clarity.
Just as your car’s windshield gets dirty each day, you use journaling like windshield wipers to clear the view. You're able to do a thorough sweep of what’s occupying your minds to find out what’s dirtying or obstructing the truth.
By committing to journaling regularly, you will start to realize these 7 benefits.
1. You'll come up with new ideas.
Exploring problems and their potential solutions through journaling gives ideas a chance to blossom.
2. Journaling clears out negative or unhelpful viewpoints.
Pursuing thoughts in writing exposes unhelpful points of view and replaces them with more insightful viewpoints.
3. Improved memory.
Chronicling events from your day improves your memory.
4. A calmer mind.
Organizing your thoughts on paper focuses your thinking and calms your busy mind.
5. Journaling processes trauma in a healthy way.
Confronting a difficult or painful memory through journaling can help bring a new awareness to the experience and alleviate some of the pain.
6. You'll connect spiritually.
Taking time to stop the "doing" and to connect to your more spiritual being through your written insights unites you with your higher self.
7. Greater self-awareness.
Checking in with yourself through daily journaling keeps you aware, awake, and ahold of the wheel.
On your self-led journey through life, journaling will help you focus and arrive at your goal. It will lead you to a place where you feel authentically yourself and capable of designing your destiny in exactly the way you choose.
Ora Nadrich is a pioneering mindfulness expert, international keynote speaker, coach, and the founder and president of the Institute for Transformational Thinking. She is also the author of Live True: A Mindfulness Guide to Authenticity.